It's Just Another Day
by Kinensai
Summary: Relena see's her birthday as a day that brings along pain and suffering. Can anyone change her mind?


It's just another day by: Kinensai

Relena stood quietly in her office staring out her window. It was a beautiful winter day, the sun was shining and reflected off of the ice that covered the trees, giving everything the appearance of glittering jewels, and small snow flakes fell from the sky like millions of feathers carried by the wind. Everything looked so peaceful, Relena sighed 'peace', she had worked so hard to finally have peace between earth and the colonies, she was happy that the people of earth and the colonies were no longer in any danger and that all threats were easily dealt with now, thanks to the preventers, but there was always something missing. Every morning Relena would wake up and make her way here, to her office, and went to meeting after meeting. She had soon found out that people could never be happy with what they had they always wanted more and they always came to her for answers. 'Why is it that people are so eager to have peace but when they have it they can't be happy.' Many times a delegate from one colony or other had threatened to start a war over some trivial thing. But now they had all decided to band together against her and went against her wishes by preparing a ball in her honor, on her birthday. 'Why can't they understand that I find no need to celebrate on that day, everything started around this time a few years back.' Relena's mind wandered off, thinking of the past, she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard the people come in to her office.

A young man and woman around the same age as Relena stood there looking at her. Her golden brown hair hung loose around her slim shoulders and surrounded her like a blanket. Her deep blue eyes glistened with unshed tears as she faced the world outside, looking at nothing in particular and her pale porcelain like skin seemed to glow in the light that the sun cast on her. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her small hands were clasped together. The short white summer dress she was wearing came down just above her knees and showed off her long slender legs. She looked like a sad angel standing there like that, an angel in prayer. The young woman couldn't help but sigh at the picture before her. 

Having heard a noise inside her office Relena snapped out of her reverie and turned to the two who had entered her office. A tall man with vibrant violet eyes and a meter long dark brown braid smiled at her, and so did the young women with short blackish blue hair and cornflower blue eyes that stood beside him, both were dressed in the usual navy blue preventer uniform.

"Hey Lena, penny for your thoughts?" Duo asked cheerily.

"I was just thinking back on the war, everything that happened..."

"It's all over now Lena" Hilde said as she approached her friend and laid a hand on her shoulder "there's no point in living in the past. Besides today's your birthday you should be enjoying yourself instead of locking yourself up in your office and working."

"It's just another day Hilde and I need to get some things done if I'm to attend the ball tonight."

Hilde sighed once again and gave her friend a smile before she left the room.

"You know Lena, were all worried about you" Duo said as he came up behind her and wrapped her up in a hug. Relena smiled at the caring gesture "You shouldn't be wasting your time worrying about me you've got other things to do" she said turning around to face him "like telling Hilde how you feel about her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Duo" she answered in a warning tone, slightly narrowing her eyes at him.

"Aww, come on don't look at me like that. Anyway I just wanted to make sure you were still planing on coming to the party the gang organized for you before going to the ball"

"I'll be there Duo, don't worry about it"

"Great! I'll see ya later then, bye" he waved as he made his way out of her office.

"Why can't anyone understand that I don't want to celebrate my birthday. Every year when my birthday comes around I just..." Relena slowly made her way over to her desk and pulled out a small brown bear out of the top drawer and stroked it's head a few seconds before suddenly raising it up over her head and throwing it across the room "God damn you Heero!" she cursed out loud "you should have killed me that night I wouldn't have to go through any of this now if you would have pulled that trigger." she cried. Relena stood there for a few minutes crying with her hands covering her face before her legs finally gave way, she collapsed to the ground and after a few minutes of crying she fell asleep.

Once she had fallen asleep a young man with unruly chestnut brown hair and dark prussian eyes came out of the shadows and made his way to her. "This isn't you Relena" he whispered as he stretched out his hand to stroke her cheek "your stronger than this." He bent down and gently picked her up and brought her over to the futon that was in her office then he made his way to the other end of her office to pick up the teddy bear she had thrown there and laid it down next to her. He stared at the beautiful angel that was sleeping and then bent down to kiss her forehead before placing something in her hand and leaving through the balconies doors.

When Relena woke up a few hours later she was puzzled, how had she managed to make it to her futon and retrieve her teddy bear? She was going to stretch when she noticed the small rectangular box that she had in her hands. It was wrapped in metallic wrapping paper with angels on it along with a small pink bow made of silk that held the wrapping in place. There was no card or any indication of who it was from. She was twisting the box around trying to find out who it was from when she noticed the time on her watch "Oh, shit!" she yelled "I'm going to be late!" With that said Relena grabbed the box and shoved it inside her purse then ran out the door and to her awaiting limousine. "Pagan I need to get home and fast I have twenty minutes to take a shower get dressed and then get my hair and makeup done for tonight and then I have to head over to Sally's for my party." Pagan opened the door to her limousine then bowed "Yes, miss Relena, right away" and then he quickly made his way to the driver seat.

"Relena it's about time you got home we were beginning to wonder if you had any intention of going to that party after all"

"I don't have time to deal with you right now Miliardo, tell Lucrezia to meet me up in my room I'm going to need all the help I can get if were going to make it there in time" She replied as she raced up the stairs towards her shower taking off her coat, shoes and socks on the way and throwing them left and right.

Zechs only stood there speechless, "I swear for someone who has her status in the world she sure does lack the grace and manners that are expected of her sometimes." He said as he lifted the pink windbreaker that had fallen on his head and placed it on the coat hanger. 

He entered the library ,where Lucrezia was standing by the window and reading out of a book, he went towards her then wrapped his arms around her shoulder. Lucrezia leaned back into him and sighed contentedly. "I'm afraid your sister in law is in need of your help, she seems to be in quite the rush to make it over to Sally's in time" he whispered into her ear and chuckled "Oh Zechs you really shouldn't have done that" she said as she turned around in his arms and placed her hands around his neck "I know she's always late at these things especially when she's the guest of honor but did you really have to set her watch back by an hour, the poor girl must be upstairs having a hell of a time." Zechs chuckled a little before he bent his head down and kissed his wife on the lips.

"I'm not late! I still have an hour to get ready!" Relena stated in shock as she looked from her brother to her stepsister. She was standing in the doorway with her hair down and a towel wrapped around her, dripping wet from the shower she had just taken. It took her a few minutes before realization finally dawned on her, her brother had tricked her. Sure he was right she always was late to these social gatherings, especially when she was the guest of honor but to go to the point of setting back her watch and letting her run around like lunatic was unfair. "Miliardo Peacecraft! How dare you make me run around in a mad rush to get ready for a party that's still an hour away. For gods sake I made an absolute fool of myself in front of my whole staff running down stairways at breakneck speeds and I nearly crashed into several people on my way!" Relena turned on her heals and made her way back up to her room frustrated.

"She's right you know, what would you have done if she had hurt herself running around like that. Sometimes you just act too impulsively Zechs" Lucrezia scolded him before going up after her sister in law.

By the time Zechs, Lucrezia and Relena were ready and on their way it was already quarter to and the party that Relena's friends and family had organized for her would be starting soon. Once they made it over to Sally's they rang the doorbell and a very surprised Hilde opened the door. "Relena! We weren't expecting you for another half hour...I mean not that we thought you were going to be late or anything it's just that well..."

"It's alright Hilde, apparently you weren't the only one who anticipated my late arrival. My dear brother deceived me, he made me believe that I was late for the party by setting my watch an hour in advance." Relena said narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"Well then what are you waiting for come on in birthday girl" Duo yelled to her from across the room where he was seated, near the table filled with appetizers. 'Figures he would choose the seat nearest to the food' Relena thought smiling at the Gundam Pilot.

The rest of the celebration at Sally's went well, Relena had managed to get around to talking to everyone. Quatre had been pleased to see her and had talked to her about his families business and how, thanks to her, Winner corp. could now export their products throughout earth and the colonies. He had also mentioned, while blushing uncontrollably, how his relationship with Trowa had been doing. Trowa, who happened to be with his sister when Relena reached him didn't really talk to her, he nodded once and a while but mostly kept quiet. Cathy on the other hand was the complete opposite apparently the circus life was quite an eventful one and Cathy was all to happy to share all of the details of her life with Relena. Duo and Hilde didn't have anything new to talk about since they had seen each other quite a few times in the past week but Duo, as usual, always found something to say. By the time she managed to sneak away from Duo it was nearly time to open presents but she managed to share a few words with Wufei and Sally.

When the clock struck 6 the group gathered around the small table that the presents were pilled on and Relena started unwrapping gifts. Quatre and Trowa bought her a digital photo album, Cathy gave her a bottle of vanilla scented perfume, Zechs and Lucrezia got her a vidphone watch, Sally got her a gift certificate for a massage, Wufei gave her a silk scarf which she suspected Sally had actually chosen, Duo got her a shirt that she had mentioned she wanted and Hilde gave her aroma therapy bath beads. When she finished unwrapping her gifts she thanked everyone and then they started to clean up before they left to get ready for the ball.

Duo was sweeping the kitchen trying to get all of the confetti of the floor when he accidentally knocked over Relena's purse and the small rectangular present that she had put in there earlier skidded across the floor and stopped at Zechs' feet. "Relena, I think you forgot to unwrap one" he picked up the gift and walked over to his sister to hand it to her. She looked down at the present in her brothers hand and back at him "Where did you get that?" she asked putting a hand on her hip and lightly tapping her foot. Before Zechs could answer her question Duo stepped up and answered for him "Sorry Lena, I was sweeping and accidentally knocked over your purse and it fell out. Who's it from anyway?"

"I don't know, I kinda passed out in my office today and when I woke up I was on my futon and I was holding it." she had no intention of letting them know that she had actually fallen asleep because she had been crying or tell them why she was crying.

"Passed out! Relena, we've told you time and again that your working too hard, your body needs it's rest" Lucrezia put her hand on her husband shoulder to calm him "Zechs it's her birthday she doesn't need to be yelled at right now." and Zechs sighed in defeat.

"Well open it already Lena, we want to know what it is. Maybe you'll get a clue about who it's from."

"You're the only one who's curiosity has gotten the better of him Maxwell. We don't all have the maturity of a child"

"Ah, c'mon Wu-man you've got to be the least bit curious"

"hmph"

"We should be getting ready for the ball anyway" Relena intervened.

"We've got plenty of time Lena. Pleeeease, I'm going to die of curiosity if you don't open it now" Duo pleaded and looked at Relena with his sad puppy face.

Relena let out an exasperated sigh, how could anyone say no to that "fine I'll open it" she took the box delicately in her hands and carefully undid the bow that was holding the metallic paper in place and both ribbon and paper fell to the floor to reveal a rectangular black velvet box. Relena stared at it a few seconds before opening it to reveal a thin silver chain with a beautiful white dove pendant. A small note was underneath it 'Even a bird of peace needs it's freedom'. She took both items and ran out the door with tears in her eyes heading to her limousine with her friends following behind her. "Pagan take me home, please."

"Why did she run off like that" Cathy asked as everyone watched the limousine disappear in the distance. 

"It's his fault" Zechs stated clenching his fists at his sides. He seemed to be staring at someone in the dark empty alley in front of them. Because of their training the pilots could all see who was standing in the shadows of the alley but the women were puzzled as they looked from the alley and then to Zechs 'what in the world is he talking about, there's nobody there', they thought but when they looked back at the alley they saw the silhouette of a man walking away. "How can you be sure it was him?" Wufei asked "it's not in his nature to do such a thing"  
Zechs stared back at him, his eyes still holding anger, "who else would give her a gift that would make her run off like that." he answered coldly. "Maybe we should all just go get ready for the ball and meet up there, there's nothing we can do about it now anyway" Lucrezia suggested in an attempt to distract her husband. "Fine" he sighed "we wouldn't want to be late"

Relena was in her room dressed for the ball, the representatives for the colonies and earth had agreed that it was to be a masquerade, but she now felt very foolish in the costume and makeup she had on. Her hair was loose and came down to her lower back and had gold glitter in it, her face and the rest of her body was also cover with the glitter. Her eyeshadow was silver and was covered with a thin layer of silver glitter, she had pale blue eyeliner on that made the sky blue of her eyes stand out in contrast and her lips had been covered in thin layers of silver and gold glitter and lip gloss. She had a long flowing white gown embroidered with silver that had long sleeves that were cut at an angle, so that when she lifted her arms the material seemed to dangle from her wrist down to her hips 18th, the front had a V shaped cut that exposed her neck and the top of her chest but wasn't low enough as to show any cleavage and the dress clung to her accentuating her curves. On her back was a very long pair of feathered wings covered in the same silver glitter she had on her eyelids. As she stared at herself in her mirror she wrinkled her nose at her appearance 'How in the world did Quatre convince me to go as an angel?' she asked herself. "Oh, well" she sighed "might as well get this over with" she said putting on her white feathered mask covered in silver glitter with silver and gold ribbons streaming down on each side, then heading for the door, but something caught her attention before she could leave. The necklace that Heero had given her was laying on her dresser and she didn't know if she should wear it or not. When she had arrived from Sally's she had thrown it there and had started to get ready for the ball immediately to try to keep from thinking about it, but now here she was faced with a decision. What if he saw her and she wasn't wearing it, what would he think, the fact that it came from him had shocked her but it really was a beautiful necklace and she didn't want to seem ungrateful so picked up the necklace and put it on then headed out the door.

Duo, Hilde, Quatre, Trowa, Cathy, Zechs and Lucrezia were all in the ballroom waiting to see if Relena was still going to show up. Both Wufei and Sally had stayed behind still having a few things to do before they came. Duo who was dressed as the god of death had a black suit and cape on along with a sickle in his right hand and a black mask on. Dressed in a sailor suit, that had a very short blue skirt, with blue high heeled shoes and a pale blue mask covered in silver glitter, giving the mask the appearance of ice, Hilde looked just like Sailor Mercury (I'm sorry but with her blackish blue hair and all I just couldn't resist). Quatre wore a gold dress shirt and pants and had gold glitter through his blond hair and on his face and wore a gold mask, everything sparkled brightly and gave off a sense of warmth like that of the sun beaming down on you. Trowa was the complete opposite wearing a silver suit that was the same style as Quatre's, his hair had streaks of silver through it, silver glitter covered his face and he had blue/silver mask the whole ensemble sparkled as brightly as Quatre's but instead of warmth it gave way to a small chill like that of ice. The two complemented each other perfectly. Cathy had opted for an acrobat's body suit, that she had sowed a tail on, the same color as her hair and a pair of cat ears, her mask was the same color as the rest of her outfit and the contours of the eyes were black and on each side of the mask were whiskers made of white pipe cleaners. Zechs and Lucrezia were dressed as a King and Queen, both had on intricate gold crowns and masks. Zechs was dressed in a white suit with a red sash and had a sword on his right side. Lucrezia had on a burgundy dress with black flowers on it, the dress was very form fitting, sleeveless and both the back and front of the dress were low cut. The group had been standing there for at least fifteen minutes when Sally and Wufei showed up. Wufei had a dark red traditional chinese robe on and the mask of a dragon. The mask had a white horn on each side and was covered with dark red scales. Sally had a black body suit on that had flames all over it, through her blond hair were streaks of orange and red and her mask matched her suit, black with flames on it.

"Do you think she's going to show up?" Hilde whispered to Duo "knowing her, if she gave her word she'll be here" he answered and just as he spoke the words Relena came down the steps to the ballroom. 

The whole room was in awe as they saw her come down the steps and remained silent in respect for their Queen. After a few moments the crowd erupted in cheers and the noise was so loud that Relena could swear that everyone in the Sanq Kingdom was cheering happily. She lifted her hand to quiet them down and then spoke "Thank you, everyone, for coming. I truly appreciate that so many people could make it here tonight and though I am honored by the respect that you have shown me and that you would go through so much trouble for my birthday I'd like to ask for you all to think of this as just another day and for one night that I'm not a Queen." Many people were initially shocked but then smiled, for a Queen to come down in status and ask to be treated like everyone else filled their hearts with love for her. So out of respect, loyalty and love for her they would do as she wished, for one night they would not curtsey or bow to her and would not bestow any tittles upon her.

After her announcement/request Relena started walking over to her friends who stood at the other end of the ballroom smiling at her. The other guests had continued dancing and she was now making her way through the dancing couples to reach her destination. Just as she was nearing her objective she was stopped in her tracks by an outstretched hand, she turned her head to get a look at the man who was silently asking her to dance and was stunned by the sight. He had on a pair of black dress pants and a black form fitting shirt, a very thin layer of gold glitter covered his face and gelled chestnut brown hair. His mask looked like Relena's except the feathers were black dusted with gold glitter, the ribbons hanging from his mask were gold and on his back he had a pair of long black wings with gold glitter. He looked just like a fallen angel. Relena mindlessly placed her hand in his and he led her silently to the center of the dance floor then lead her free hand to the back of his neck and placed his free one on her lower back, circling her small waist with his arm. 

They danced quietly and lightly pressed against one another, eventually Relena laid her head on his shoulder and he lowered his so that their cheeks touched. "Do you still want me to kill you" the man whispered into her ear. Relena gasped when she heard the words and tried to pull away but his hold on her was too strong, she brought her gaze up to the mask that was covering part of his face then to his prussian blue eyes. "H...Heero" she whispered her voice shaking. He stared into her clear blue eyes and saw hope and fear, he nodded his head to her in answer to her question and loosened his hold on her when he saw the tears that were forming in her eyes, she backed away from him a little and he was going to bring her closer to him when he was suddenly slapped across the face. He turned his head back to her holding his stinging cheek with his left hand, his mask did nothing to hide the confusion in his eyes and for once he didn't care.

Relena looked at him one last time before she ran away from him and headed to the gardens. Heero stood there speechless for a few seconds before he turned and ran after her.

"Was that really who I think it was" Cathy asked no one in particular while Duo and Trowa were keeping Zechs from running after Heero and to try and kill him. All the guest were silent and had no idea how to react till one man started to call for the guards telling them that they had to find the Queen and make sure she was alright. "No!" Lucrezia cried out, "you can't. Relena will be fine he won't hurt her."

When Heero managed to catch up to Relena she was sitting by a fountain in the middle of the rose garden crying. He sighed as he walked up to her and sat down next to her. He wasn't sure what he should do, he wasn't really used to dealing with others especially when emotions were involved, so he just sat there quietly looking at her. After a while he started to look at his surroundings everything was white and sparkling in the moonlight, the dried rose bushes cast shadows all over the place giving the area an eerie appearance and the silence didn't help. "Why now?" Heero was startled when Relena spoke and didn't really understand what she meant. "Relena" he said gently "what do you mean why now?"

She sighed then turned to face him, her watery eyes sparkling in the moonlight "Why did you have to come back now Heero, why on this day, on my birthday" she had nearly whispered the last words as she brought her eyes back down to stare at here hands in her lap. "If you'd only waited a little longer, only bad things happen on my birthday and I don't think that I can take any more pain"

"Relena, you said it yourself it's just another day, my being here doesn't mean anything will happen" he tried to reassure her not truly understanding what she meant.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" she cried out at him as she stood "everything started on my birthday, you had arrived and then my father died then the war came and all of those horrible things happened, so many lives were lost so many people suffered, they didn't deserve it! Then the year after that I...I thought I had lost you for good I figured that the teddy bear was your last goodbye, then the next year the whole Mariemaiea thing happened and I was so sure that you'd never come back after that and now here you are and I know your going to leave me again and I can't take it and I won't be able to take it if there's another war next year..." her legs wouldn't hold her anymore and Relena collapsed to the ground and started to cry after a few moments she was frustrated and ripped the mask away from her face and threw it as far as she could.

Heero bent down beside her and took her in his arms rubbing her back gently as he tried to calm her down. Once she had finished crying she fell asleep, "I'm not leaving this time Relena, I won't leave you ever again" he whispered in her ear as he stood up with her cradled in his arms and headed back to the Peacecraft mansion. When Heero entered the mansion he saw Duo, Hilde, Quatre, Trowa, Cathy, Wufei, Sally Zechs and Lucrezia standing in front of the stairs that led to the bedrooms.

"Why are you here?" Zechs asked glaring at him.

Heero didn't move or talk, which only made Zechs angrier. In an attempt to keep a fight from breaking out Duo stepped over to Heero and held out his arms "Hand her over Heero we'll take care of her" but the only thing he received was a very threatening glare so he backed off.

"What do you want?" Zechs nearly screamed at him, and still he didn't answer.

Zechs had just about had enough and was about to go and strangle Heero when he finally decided to speak, but what he said wasn't exactly an answer to his questions and sounded more like a threat. "I suggest that you all get out of my way, now" he said in his usual monotone but the look in his eyes let them know that he was not going to take no for an answer and that he would use force to remove them if necessary. So slowly they got out of his way, but Trowa and Wufei had to pull Zechs away.

Once the way was clear Heero quietly went up the stairs to Relena's room. He stepped inside her room and closed the door quietly behind his so that the angel in his arms wouldn't wake from her sleep and when he laid her down in her bed he did it with gentleness and great care. Not once since he had picked her up had she stirred but as soon as she was out of his arms and he had his back turned to her he felt her small hand grip his wrist.

"Heero" her voice pleaded "please don't go"

He smiled at her when he turned around "I'm coming back Relena, I promise" he bent down towards her and caressed her cheek with his hand before he kissed her lips softly. She gasped in surprise and he took that opportunity to deepen the kiss, slightly stroking her tongue with his enjoying her taste and thoroughly exploring her mouth. Relena melted into the kiss, her eyes were closed and she let out a soft moan. Heero pulled back and looked at her, she had a peaceful expression but when she opened her eyes all he could see was love and lust. "I'll be back soon" he promised once again before leaving. Relena smiled to herself she knew he would come back, he always kept his word. 


End file.
